import Code from 'components/Markdown/Code'

export const meta = {
  title: 'Release Channels & Preview',
  position: 105
}

## Release channels

Prisma has three different _release channels_:

- **Alpha**: The `alpha` channel is ideal for contributors and developers who want to try new features as early as possible. Features on the `alpha` channel are not fully tested and might see significant changes before they are included in a `stable` release.
- **Beta**: Features on the `beta` channel are tested and unlikely to change before the final release. The `beta` channel is a great way to try new features and provide feedback before they are available in a `stable` release.
- **Stable**: We recommend that you run the `stable` channel on your production servers. Releases on the `stable` channel follow a bi-weekly cadence and only include very minor changes compared to the `beta` channel. This ensures that the combination of features in a release has been thoroughly tested on the `beta` channel.

![](https://imgur.com/TvlsOeC.png)

> You can learn more about Prisma's release process in [this](https://www.prisma.io/blog/improving-prismas-release-process-yaey8deiwaex/) blog post.

## Preview vs Final

Some Prisma features are released in a **Preview**. The Preview stage is orthogonal to the release channels, meaning a feature that's released in Preview still goes through the "normal" release channels: `alpha`, `beta` and `stable`.

Preview means that the API of the feature is considered stable, but there might be significant internal improvements as long as the feature is in the Preview stage. If a feature is not in Preview, it's considered **Final**. All features that are not explicitly released in Preview are Final by default.

Prisma 1.22 has the following features in the preview stage:

- [Prisma client](b6q6)
- [MongoDB database connector](b605)
- [Datamodel v1.1](b6a7)

## Beta access

### Prisma CLI
`
You can get access to the latest beta release of the Prisma CLI by appending the `@beta`-tag when installing it via NPM:

```
npm install -g prisma@beta
```

### Prisma server (Docker)

You can find the latest beta Prisma Docker image on [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/prismagraphql/prisma/tags/). To use the latest version of a Prisma server, you need to configure the `image` property in your Docker Compose file accordingly by appending `-beta` to the the version number, e.g.:

<Code lines="4">

```yml
version: '3'
services:
  prisma:
    image: prismagraphql/prisma:1.22-beta
    restart: always
    ports:
    - "4466:4466"
    environment:
      PRISMA_CONFIG: |
        managementApiSecret: __YOUR_MANAGEMENT_API_SECRET__
        port: __YOUR_PRISMA_SERVER_PORT__
        databases:
          default:
            connector: __YOUR_DATABASE_CONNECTOR__
            migrations: __ENABLE_DB_MIGRATIONS__
            host: __YOUR_DATABASE_HOST__
            port: __YOUR_DATABASE_PORT__
            user: __YOUR_DATABASE_USER__
            password: __YOUR_DATABASE_PASSWORD__
```

</Code>

You can also pull the latest beta version directly using the Docker CLI:

```bash
docker pull prismagraphql/prisma:1.22-beta
```